


Decisions

by LeToastBurnt



Category: Naruto
Genre: Akane is the responsible one here, Anyone who ruins that will die, At least he thinks he does, Author doesn't know what they're doing, Fuuinjutsu Master Uzumaki Naruto, Gaara is a small adorable bundle of mass destruction, Gaara is adorable, Gaara is innocent, Gaara likes hugs, Gen, He's Kaiyō now, Just picture a tiny Suigetsu with some kind of cleaver or something, Kakashi is part of a super secret murder club, Kakashi knows what he's doing, Lmao canon?, Naruto isn't Naruto, Naruto likes swords, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Protective Uzumaki Naruto, Red Panda Summons, Red-Haired Uzumaki Naruto, Sealing, Sealing is complicated, So Yugao likes Naruto, Suigetsu is a fish stick, Tenzo is scared of Yugao, Time Travel, Tobirama and Naruto are sealing buddies, What's That?, at least in Mei's eyes, author hasn't written in a while, bad summary, he should be, it's adorable, rightfully so
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-20
Updated: 2021-01-04
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:14:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27125054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LeToastBurnt/pseuds/LeToastBurnt
Summary: He didn’t really have a plan at first. But that was ok. He’d just fix the world. Somehow… Then he sees Gaara. And he makes a decision
Relationships: ANBU & Uzumaki Naruto, Gaara & Future!Uzumaki Naruto, Kyuubi | Nine-tails | Kurama & Uzumaki Naruto, Possible Puppy Love, Senju Tobirama & Uzumaki Naruto (briefly)
Comments: 41
Kudos: 246
Collections: Foxy fox 🦊





	1. Chapter 1

When he traveled back in time he didn’t have an exact goal in mind, but that was ok.

Because he decided that he wanted to drop by Sunakagure and dote on Gaara.

So when he saw a certain small red-headed Jinchuriki building a sand castle alone, he decided on a plan.

Gaara, he also decided, was a small adorable bundle of mass destruction.

But Gaara was also his bundle of mass destruction.

As such, Naruto found it perfectly legal to take Gaara.

Perfectly legal.

This was how Naruto found himself running from about 3 dozen ANBU and the Kazekage.

No biggie he thinks. At least Gaara is having fun. 

Gaara, is indeed having fun. 

The child, who is currently residing safely in the crook of his arm shooting questions at him excitedly which he hastily answers and avoids being taken down with another barrage of kunai and leaps out of the range of a tendril of glittery sand which he assumes is the Kazekage’s infamous gold dust. 

He had considered taking Temari and Kankuro too but Temari was pretty scary at this age, apparently finding her love of her war fan. When he tried to be friends with her she grinned rather maniaclly and asked if she could smack him with her fan.

He said no.

Kankuro was pretty bratty, plus his puppets were kind of weird.

Gaara, on the other hand, had stared at him in wide-eyed wonder when Naruto asked if he wanted to be friends. 

It only reassured him that he was doing the right thing. 

Naruto had stayed in Suna for about 2 weeks befriending and doting on Gaara like he had originally planned to do. Then as planned, he told the jinchuriki that Naruto could fix his seal and that Gaara and Shukaku would be best friends in no time. After that, as not planned, he asked if Gaara wanted to leave Suna. 

Unsurprisingly, Gaara had beamed and said yes. 

Thinking back on it now maybe he should’ve been a little more prepared. 

“Kaiyō-nii?” Comes the voice of his new ward

He startles a little, the honorific is new.

Kaiyō chuckles “I’m your nii-san now am I?”

Gaara blushes which looks absolutely adorable and ducks his head down.

When he looks up again his teal eyes are inquisitive 

“But your hair is red, so you must be!” 

Kaiyō blinked, he had almost forgotten about his hair.

He hummed thoughtfully, absentmindedly pushing a lock of dark crimson hair back. 

His hair had turned red a while back, when he had made the jump back he had fused with Kurama in order to create a body for himself in this world.

Kurama and Kaiyō's, formerly Naruto’s, Uzumaki genes had overruled his fathers this time, leaving him with long crimson locks and oddly enough a pair of ears and a tail which apparently Kurama added just to mess with him. He got rid of them quickly enough. (Albeit, not without a minor panic attack first.) 

Shaking himself out of his thoughtful daze he grinned down at Gaara, 

“I guess that makes you my otouto hmm?”

Gaara smiled and Naruto spotted sand exploding under an ANBU.

Grinning he ran faster

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was actually really short but the other chapters will be longer. 
> 
> I’m just getting the feel of writing after a while. 
> 
> I dunno when i’m gonna update again but I’ll try to get another chapter out this month. I have an outline for where i want this to go but i'm not to sure.
> 
> In case anyone was wondering, Naruto has Dark crimson hair and his skin is now paler.  
> He wears a black turtleneck like shirt with the Uzumaki swirl on his right sleeve and the senju symbol on his left, he wears the basic black shinobi pants and sandals, He wears a burgundy haori that reaches his knees it has cloud gray flames, (think of his sage cloak) and grey fingerless gloves. He has a utility belt that includes mostly sealing material, but the occasional soldier pill or weapon.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gaara likes hugs and Kakashi adopts a child.

Kaiyo pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Gaara…” He sighed tiredly

“Yeah?” Said child looked up at him, teal eyes wide and innocent

“What have we said about crushing people with sand?”

A pout, “Not to…?”

Kaiyo nodded 

“Crushing people is bad.”

Gaara nodded before mumbling a sorry and looking down at his feet.

Kaiyo, like the good big brother he now was, had managed to procure a small gourd with some sand for Gaara. After he had fixed the jinchurikis seal, he wasn’t insane. Thank you very much. Looking back now it might not have been the best decision he ever made. 

He smiled and ruffled the red-heads hair affectionately. 

It was fine. It wasn’t like all Gaara did was crush people with his sand. He made sandcastles sometimes. When he wasn’t hugging people with his sand. Which had a 50/50 percent chance of the hug ending with someone crushed.

His smile strained a little at the thought.

It was fine.

* * *

Contrary to popular belief, Kakashi did not abandon his sensei’s son. 

Naruto simply knew him by a different name.

So when he jumped down from his perch on Naruto’s windowsill and said boy ran over to him like a small blond bullet with a yell of Dog-nii-san he felt rightly earned self satisfaction.

Kakashi hummed as he sat down with his back resting against the wall, only half listening to his pseudo little brother as Naruto recollected the past few days events. 

“And then, and then, this old guy- He only had one eye!- He came over and he asked me my name!”

Kakashi stiffened, there were only a couple of people in Konoha with one eye and he knew of only two that were old. 

“Naru,” He cut in smoothly, successfully stopping the boy so he could look at Kakashi questioningly “What did the old man look like?”

Naruto tilted his head to the side the way he did whenever he was thinking about something 

“Mmm, he had lots a bandages on his arm and he had this funny scar on his chin” 

Barely withholding a snarl, Kakashi held Naruto a little tighter from where the child had settled on his legs.

“Say Naruto, you wanna go somewhere?”

Naruto, being Naruto, instantly perked up and nodded eagerly. Wincing he made a mental note to instill a healthy bit of paranoia into the blond. 

Standing up he awkwardly picked up Naruto. Naruto, who wasn't helping at all, excitedly squirming and shifting. With a sigh he gave up and moved the Jinchuriki to his back with a murmured hold on. 

Conscious of the child on his back, Kakashi ran considerably slower to their destination and considering the fact that he wasn’t supposed to be anywhere near the kid due to the Sandaime’s law he had more than a few doubts. 

Every member of his team was undoubtedly aware of Naruto’s status as Minato-sensei’s son. That should be enough to get them to back him up. Hopefully.

He feels the tiny pit of dread that's been building in his stomach spike up at the sight of the ANBU headquarters. He savagely shoves it down and swings the child that will most likely be the indirect cause of his death down from his shoulder and into his hands

Naruto, who had been playing with Kakashi’s hair before, now looked up at said Hatake with big watery blue eyes.

He pouted “ Dog-nii where are we?” 

Well, he couldn’t exactly tell the kid that he was taking him to the headquarters of multiple screwed in the head assassins now could he?

So he blurted the first thing that came to mind 

“Maa Naru-chan, we’re at my super secret club hideout.” Kakashi shut his mouth and internally bemoaned his stupidity. 

Naruto, oblivious child that he was, cheered and started squirming excitedly in Kakashi’s hands. 

He sighed and began to walk towards the building that would surely mark his demise.

Entering the building that happened to house a couple dozen psychopaths Kakashi briefly reconsidered reconsidering shoving down his doubts and that maybe this wasn’t the best idea he’d ever had.

Kakashi shrugged and waltzed through the doors.

Lemur, one of his teammates, was currently cursed with the duty that was desk duty noticed him first.

“Hey! Kak-”

Genma cut himself off mid sentence. Kakashi watched him expectantly while Naruto squirmed.

  
“Holy shit,” Genma gaped

“The- Is that-” Was his teammates intelligent response to the 4 year olds presence.

Kakashi thought Genma very much resembled a fish at the moment and like the blunt person he was. He said as much

“Perhaps they should’ve given you the fish mask Genma-kun.”

Genma shut his mouth with a small click.

Naruto, whom he had neglected in favor of staring at his colleague, had managed to free himself from Kakashi’s grip enough to shift his position and cling onto said man's neck. 

Forcing his now tense muscles to relax he spared a glance at the senbon chewing ANBU who was now hovering nearby as though contemplating snatching Naruto away. 

“Maa, Genma, where’s the rest of the team?” 

Genma wordlessly pointed down the hall in the direction that led to the room that they mainly used as a sort of lounge. 

Kakashi nodded and walked to find the rest of his team exhibiting a confidence that he most definitely did not possess, Genma trailing behind him like a lost puppy.  
Thankfully he encountered no other ANBU.

As he reached the entrance to the proclaimed team lounge Kakashi threw open the door and walked straight up to Tenzo, completely ignoring the looks his teammates were giving him. 

“Tenzo! Just the kohai I was looking for!” Said kohai looks at him warily. Smart kid.

“Semapi…”

He promptly shoved Naruto onto Tenzo. “Here! Have a kid!” 

Naruto pouted at him while Tenzo blinked in stunned silence.

Kakashi plopped onto a couch and pulled out an Icha Icha book.

* * *

“Kaiyo-nii?”

“Yes Gaara?”

“Do you want a hug?”

* * *

Tenzo didn’t know what he had done to deserve this. 

Everyones staring at him.

Why him?

It was Kakashi that had dropped the kid on him, Why not Kakashi?

The child squirmed.

What the hell was he supposed to do with a child?

“Yugao…” 

The purple haired kunoichi stared at him. He stared back.

“Do you, uh, want him?”

Yugao narrowed his eyes at him. 

“Why would I want him?”

“Because..” Tenzo has no reason, he silently flails

”Because I’m a woman?”

Her voice is quiet and her glare could probably kill the Kyuubi 10 times over

Tenzo gulps, because to hell with his Mokuton, Yugao is _scary_. 

“N-no?”

She smiles and it’s all teeth. “Good” 

And it’s radiating smugness. 

He curses under his breath. 

What the hell is he supposed to do with a Jinchuriki?

He can feel himself start to sweat. 

* * *

  
“I’m fine Gaara, thank you.”

“Are you sure? Everybody else likes my hugs!”

“Erm, I’m sure they do.”

* * *

Kakashi decided he’d made his kohai suffer enough and snatched Naruto back.

“Alright then!” He clapped his hands together as best as he could while awkwardly attempting to let Naruto settle on his back without jostling the child.

“Naruto, Kinoe, Kinoe, Naruto.” Kakashi gestured at Tenzo who had let out an audible sigh of relief.

Kakashi wasn’t too sure how he was going to tell his team he had just adopted the local Jinchuriki but he’d sure he’d find a subtle way to tell them.

“Ok team! We’ve just adopted the hokage's son! What an honor!” Smooth Kakashi, real smooth.

Luckily everyone on his team already knew this piece of highly confidential information. Or at least suspected it. 

Yugao looked at him like he was stupid and grabbed Naruto. Genma looked oddly giddy. Raido who had been brooding in the corner perked up. Tenzo on the other hand looked like he was about to faint.

Naruto (who had luckily not been paying attention to him) looked indifferent which turned to excitement as Yugao handed him a blunt tanto. 

Tenzo made tea kettle noises. 

“Something the matter Tenzo?” Kakashi asked innocently

The Mokuton user mutely shook his head.

“Perfect!”

Raido paused in his brooding to speak 

“Won’t Hokage-sama notice his Jinchurikis missing?”

Genma looked at Kakashi warily “We better not get in trouble for this.” As though they hadn’t just stolen the Jinchuriki.

“Maa, we’ll deal with that when we get to it.” 

Not willing to let Naruto know about ROOT just yet he discreetly signed at his team what Naruto had told him about Danzo. 

Yugao’s head shot up from where she had been idly observing Naruto play with the tanto, catching the call sign they used for Danzo and Naruto. 

Tenzo immediately stiffened, his face contorting into one of rage.

Yugao bared her teeth in a not-so-nice smile and practically radiated killing intent yet somehow managed to shield Naruto from it. 

Kakashi figured it worked out pretty well seeing as how everyone had immediately broken out in a cold sweat with the exception of Naruto who didn’t seem fazed in the least.

Thankfully the purple haired ANBU soon ceased her blood lust in favor of doting over Naruto.

Kakashi sweat dropped. This would be… _Interesting._

* * *

“Nii-san?”

“Yes…?”

“Shuka-kun wants me to hug you.”

“Ah, perhaps at a later time Gaara.”

“Promise?”

“Mmm, sure. We’ll just work on your hugging skills first.”

  
{Omake}

Tenzo had fucked up.

There it is. Plain and simple.

He stared at increasing horror at the Jinchuriki who had clung to him as he had shunshined away.

Sandaime-sama was going to kill him. 

So was Kakashi.

And quite possibly himself. 

“Tree man-kun!” came the excited voice of one interrogation specialist.

“Hey! Why’d you bring a kid?” Anko questioned

He had met Anko one day while exploring the Forest of Death. They had bonded over their mutual love of the forest and hate of Orochimaru.

“I-” 

Anko bulldozed over his attempt at an explanation.

“Hey! Who are you kid?” _Kakashi is going to kill me._

The child puffed up like some kind of bird.

“I’m Uzumaki Naruto!”

Instead of the usual disgusted response Naruto received when people heard his name the snake-lady just grinned.

“I’m the super sexy Mitarashi Anko-sama! But you can call me Anko-chan!”

Naruto looked at Anko with stars in his eyes.

Tenzo did the correct thing and _panicked the fuck out._

And that was how Naruto found himself alone with Anko.

* * *

“Hey kid!” Anko said. She had the best idea ever.

Naruto perked up.

Anko grinned, torturing people was always fun when she was a kid.

“Wanna help me with something?”

“Yes Anko-chan!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I was planning this for tomorrow night but I figured today was as good as any day. So here we are. Anyways thank you all for the kudos and comments! I do enjoy reading and responding to your comments! It means a lot to me!
> 
> Anywho, this was meant to be longer but I kind of just wanted to introduce Kakashi and the others into the mix. We'll have more Kaiyo and Gaara next chapter. 
> 
> Question: Do you guys want a baby Sasuke? And of course we’d throw Itachi in the mix.
> 
> Originally I just planned for this to be just both Naruto and Gaara and Kakashi. Team Ro and other characters kinda just hung around sometimes. But I mean, then I started up Itachi shinden again and i realized what cute and innocent child Sasuke is. 
> 
> Also, Anko! We will be seeing more of her most likely.
> 
> (P.S I've got some more ideas cooking up in the good ol' brain so you can expect another story in the next month or so. It shouldn't hinder my writing of this story so hopefully I can update about 3 times a month minimum. )


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gaara makes some new friends and Kaiyō meets some old ones.

  
  
  


Gaara liked hugs.

Kaiyō-nii had originally shown them to him and he had thought they were  _ almost _ as cool as sand. Nothing could beat his sand.

Kaiyō-nii seemed to think hugs were better but that was okay. 

He had taken to randomly hugging strangers and sometimes his sand wanted to help and then when he let go they fell down all funny looking and Kaiyo-nii looked at them funny and then he told Gaara that he was crushing them and crushing people was  _ bad. _

Personally Gaara didn’t see what the problem with crushing people was but his nii-san didn’t like it when he did that so he didn’t. 

Gaara missed Yashamaru but Kaiyō-nii was awesome and he didn’t want to leave him. Sometimes Kaiyō-nii looked at him kinda sadly so Gaara went and hugged him. Mother tried to help too but Kaiyō-nii had glared at her.

Although Kaiyō-nii had done something to the swirls on his tummy and had talked to Mother, Kaiyō-nii said Mother wasn’t  _ actually _ Mother, and his name was Shukaku. 

His nii-san also had some friends and they said their names were Aki and Akane. They looked like Shuka-kun and Gaara had told him as much.

Shuka-kun had roared about inferior animals.

Gaara didn’t think they were ‘inferior’ though because they were nice and liked riding on his head. 

One time he had asked Kaiyō-nii why he couldn’t bleed and Kaiyo-nii had smiled at him and told him he should be happy because bleeding hurt and even if he didn’t that didn’t make him any less human.

That made Gaara happy.

Sometimes Kaiyo-nii's head would shoot up and he would say a word that Gaara was sure would have Temari whacking him with her battle fan. Gaara told him so and Kaiyō-nii laughed and looked sad again before he told Gaara to get on his back. 

Then Gaara did because usually that meant Kaiyō-nii knew that those funny guys in masks were coming. Sometimes Akane would tell Kaiyō-nii that he was famous and Kaiyo-nii’s face would match his hair and he would snap something back.

Kaiyō-nii had lots of friends, one time a new friend came up to him. Gaara thought it looked familiar. Shuka-kun wouldn’t tell him though so he gave up.

Kaiyō-nii also told him that he should try to talk a lot to Shuka-kun so he did but Shuka-kun didn’t want to listen. That made Gaara sad.

But then Kaiyō-nii said Shuka-kun was just a bit shy and Gaara understood. Then Gaara had asked what Shuka-kun was and Kaiyō-nii said he was a  _ tanuki. _ Then he asked what Kaiyō-nii’s friends were.

He had laughed and winked at Gaara saying that was a  _ secret _ . 

Gaara had pouted furiously and pestered his brother to no end. 

Gaara and Kaiyō travelled around for a bit, never really staying anywhere. Gaara found it exciting and Kaiyō liked it if Gaara liked it. 

A few months into their travels Kaiyō had sensed a signature in the Land of Iron that last time he checked was  _ supposed to be dead, and he’d had had more than enough supposed to be dead dead people thank you very much. _

But oh wait, time travel.

Kaiyō had brushed it off and turned his attention to Gaara who was looking at a stranger like he wanted to hug them. 

Gaara, did indeed, want to hug them but then Kaiyo-nii had sternly led him away ranting about how hugging strangers in public was a bad idea.

And then they had bumped into a really tall white haired dude and Kaiyō-nii had stiffened up and Aki who was currently riding on his shoulder used that funny technique that made his hair change color. 

The tall guy looked at Kaiyō-nii and opened his mouth but his brother had apologized and walked away.

Akane who was curled around Kaiyō’s neck covered by his back-length red hair peeked her head out of the sheltered spot with a worried look on her face. 

“Maa, Akane-chan, it’s nothing.”

Akane hrmphed and receded back into the hair.

“Who was that nii-san?” Gaara questioned, ever the curious child.

“Ah, no one really Gaara.” Kaiyō laughed sheepishly, going to rub the base of his neck and changing direction to the back of his head as a hiss met him at his destination. 

“So grumpy Akane.” Kaiyō grumbled

“No more so than that flea-pelt you call a summon!” The animal growled

“I don’t know what you and Hikari have against each other…”

The animal fell silent, a few quiet mumbles emitting from the veil of hair.

“Whose Hikari Kaiyo-nii?”

Kaiyō winked at Gaara, “My other friend.”

Gaara frowned “You have too many friends.”

Kaiyō’s eyes twinkled with mirth and he pushed a fringe of hair that usually half covered his right eye away. 

“Perhaps.”

“Kaiyō-nii are you trying to be mysterious?” 

Kaiyō spluttered and Gaara could hear Akane cackling and Aki was silently giggling from her perch on his head. 

Despite all other appearances Kaiyō was on guard, Jiraiya was spying on them with his Transparency Jutsu. 

Akane subtly pulled on Kaiyō’s hair to show that she was also aware of the perverted sannin. 

Aki jumped off Gaara’s head and trotted away in the direction of the forest at Akanes signal.

Gaara yelped and ran after the summon Kaiyō following at a more sedate pace, sensing skills honed on Jiraiya. 

He had no doubt he could beat his former master if need be, though he’d prefer not to.

  
  


Kaiyō had gotten over Jiraiya’s death long ago with the help of Shikamaru. Seeing him now though was like a punch to the gut while someone was choking you. Not fun.

Kaiyō idly wondered what Shikamaru would be doing right now. Probably sleeping. Maybe hanging out with the Nara deer. They had always had a calming presence and Kaiyō had loved sitting in the forest with them while visiting his best friend.

Jiraiya, the man himself, interrupted his thoughts by appearing next to him. Kaiyō who had been aware he was there tried very hard not to flinch at the sight of the man. 

_ You’re supposed to be dead! Everyone’s supposed to be dead! _ Is what he  _ wanted _ to scream, but he kept up his composure, never faltering in his steps, gaze still on Gaara who was busily chasing Aki.

He inhaled deeply, 

“Jiraiya-sama.”

“Tamer of Storms, huh?”

Kaiyō tried very hard not to choke.

“I wasn’t aware word had spread.”

An eyebrow was raised at that. 

“The great Arashi no chōkyōshi has been rumored everywhere from here to the Land of Wind.”

“Is that so?” 

“Of course.”

“Akane, would you follow my sweet otouto? I fear he might get lost following Aki.” 

Kaiyō’s voice was cold and his face blank but Akane got the message perfectly.

_ Protect him. _

The summon stepped out of her hiding spot, gracefully bounding onto the ground, sending a tentative glance at her summoner before running after Gaara.

“Now, Jiraiya-sama, is there something you wish to tell me?” 

Jiraiya’s gaze followed the animal, face carefully blank.

“Is tha-”

“I grow impatient, Jiraiya-sama.”

Kaiyō stopped and turned to face the sannin.

“I come on behalf of Konoha and the Hokage.” Jiraiya stated unusually serious. “Hokage-sama wishes for you to join the ranks of Konoha.”

Kaiyō hummed thoughtfully cocking his head slightly to the side, he  _ had _ expected a request to join but not so soon. He had things to do after all.

Mind made up, he met Jiraiya’s black eyes with his own kyanite orbs. 

“Perhaps at a later time.”

Jiraiya openly gaped at him. 

“Wha-! Uzumaki-san! Hokage-sama doesn’t extend this offer lightly!” He shouted entirely nonplussed 

Kaiyō laughed lightly, wincing at the chakra the sannin was emitting. 

“Jiraiya-sama, many villages great and small have extended offers for me to join. Konoha is one of the only villages I have not outright declined.”

The Toad Sage stiffened at that.

“Not to worry. I would not betray the village I do end up settling in.” 

Jiraiya's stance relaxed, if only a little.

Kaiyō began walking again, gaze trained on where Gaara had been before vanishing around a corner, he raised his hand in a lazy wave, not bothering to look back. 

“You have my answer, Jiraiya-sama. Hokage-sama may expect me. If I do not find my way to Konoha within 3 months my answer is clear. Perhaps I could even meet Kushina-nee’s son, ne?”

Kaiyō felt the killing intent coming off Jiraiya in waves but he couldn’t glance back at his old master for fear of telling him everything.

Kaiyō walked in circles until he was positive Jiraiya wasn’t following. Then he went to the meeting spot.

The minute he reached the small grove of trees he and the summons had decided to meet at in case anything went wrong Gaara jumped on him.

“Kaiyō-nii!!”

Kaiyō laughed “Gaara.”

Gaara proceeded to babble while Aki sprung onto Kaiyō’s shoulder and Akane re-assumed her position on his neck rubbing her long tail on his cheek. Making a sound of exasperation.

“That old pervert didn’t threaten you did he?” She whispered.

“Nah, though I might’ve indirectly threatened to steal Naruto...” He whispered back wincing as he realized what he had done. 

“You idiot.”

Kaiyō laughed and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, mindful of the animal curled around his neck. “Yeah, though I don’t regret, ‘ttbane” 

Aki swatted his face with her tail. “I thought you got rid of that?”

He grinned “So did I. It’ll be gone soon enough. Don’t worry.” 

Aki rolled her eyes fondly. 

“Maa, otouto, you’re looking tired.”

Gaara's eyes were drooping but he shook his head vigorously.

“ ‘M fine Kaiyō-nii!” 

Kaiyō chuckled and ruffled the other redhead’s hair. He swung Gaara onto his hip and Aki crossed from his shoulder to Gaara’s own. 

“Traitor,” he muttered, Gaara just giggled.

Kaiyō readjusted Gaara's body to parallel his own. The jinchuriki pressed his face into the crook of Kaiyō’s neck, Akane’s tail gently swishing by his cheek. Aki curled around Gaara’s neck in a fashion similar to Akane.

Kaiyō decided he never wanted to let Gaara go.

“Hey Gaara,” He spoke softly, the boy hummed in response

“Wanna get some new friends?”

* * *

Omake~

“Hey Gaara.”

“Yeah?”

“Wanna go to Kumogakure?” 

“Why?” He inquired. Aki sat atop his head tail swishing back and forth lazily

“Well, before I got you I traveled all over the place. When I went to Kumo they had a really bad storm.” Kaiyō-nii paused, considering his next words. “I offered… to, stop some of the worst storms, a Tamer of Storms, if you will.”

Gaara looked at him wide-eyed 

“You can do that?” The boy exhaled.

Kaiyō laughed. “Yup!”

“Woah! Can I watch you?” 

“Is that a yes?”

“Mhm!”

Kaiyō adopted a thoughtful look “Alright, I suppose you can. Although you’ll have to stay near me, ok?”

“Okay!” Gaara chirped happily

Akane growled softly, 

“We’re not going there again are we? That place makes my fur stand on end!”

“Too bad!” Kaiyō said in a sing-song voice.

Four days later found Kaiyō and Gaara in the Raikage's office. 

“A-Sama.”

“Uzumaki.”

“I have returned to help with the storms.” Kaiyō intoned.

“Yes I can see that.” A paused, gaze flicking over to Gaara who was currently under an undetectable henge with the help of Aki. “I see you have brought company.”

Kaiyō nodded as Gaara tugged on his haori sleeve.

“Can we go now?”

Kaiyō chuckled “Soon.”

“May I inquire where B-sama is at?

A grunted and hesitated before speaking.

“He is on a mission.”

“Ah I see. We’ll be going now.”

A nodded 

“Have you considered my request Uzumaki-san?”

“I have. I’m afraid that I'll have to decline for now. Though you know how to contact me if you are ever in need of assistance.”

A didn’t look too happy at the prospect but said nothing more

Gaara looked up at Kaiyō curiously before trotting over dutifully as the red haired man strode out of office.

“Can we go now nii-san?”

“Maa, so impatient Gaara.”

Gaara turned his best puppy eyes on Kaiyō. He was wise enough to quickly look away.

Sighing, Kaiyō loosely held out a hand, prompting Gaara to grab it. 

“Alright then, we’ll get going. A-sama’s already made sure the clearing we’ll be in is cleared out.

Gaara cheered. Aki climbed onto Gaara head from her perch on his shoulder, flattening the hair before curling up. 

“It seems you’re stealing my summons Gaara,” Kaiyō said with a good natured sigh, “Whatever shall I do?”

The jinchuriki giggled, absently reaching up to pet said summon.

The two jinchuriki travelled for 30 minutes before reaching a small grassy plain. Storm clouds were gathering overhead.

“Alright Gaara, stay here for a few moments.”

Gaara nodded and sat down on the grass while Kaiyō walked over to a barren patch of ground.

Humming, Kaiyō reached into his utility belt and grabbed a brush and some ink. 

“You feel like being helpful Akane?”

The summon snorted from her spot under Kaiyō hair. 

“Maybe another day.” Kaiyō rolled his eyes.

“Keep telling yourself that” He muttered and started to draw sealing symbols on the ground.

“A sealing master of your caliber shouldn’t  _ need _ help.” Akane commented drily. Kaiyō simply growled.

“It’d go a lot faster if you’d help Akane-sama.” The man sneered, skillfully flicking his wrist.

“Perhaps.”

“You’re impossible.” Kaiyō muttered, “I see why you and furball get along so well.”

“We do not!”

“Yeah right,” The jinchuriki added drily “and Kurama likes the Uchiha now.”

The two continued to banter as Gaara watched silently fascinated. 

“Alright! All set! Come on in Gaara.”

Gaara stood up and walked over to Kaiyō and the seal, Aki now nestled in his arms

“Step inside the seal.”

“What’s it do?”

“Well, it’ll keep us safe from lightning just in case any decides to get to close, it’ll also keep the wind out so everything won’t be flying everywhere. There’s a barrier seal so that we can’t step out until I make the proper hand signs, just as a precaution. Although I made sure we can still feel the rain.”

“You  _ what!”  _ Akane shrieked. 

“Well,” He shrugged calmly, “I was sure Gaara would like to feel the rain. You should’ve helped Akane-chan.”

The summon snarled viciously “You’re precious hair’s gonna get wet pretty boy.”

Kaiyō shrugged again, taking an unholy amount of pleasure in the way that Akane’s face was scrunching up.

“I thought it could use a wash.”

And then Akane  _ bit him _ . 

“Hey!” He yelped, throwing the animal off, “What the hell?” 

Kaiyō slapped a hand over his mouth and looked down at Gaara who was thankfully preoccupied looking curiously at the seal.

“What the hell?” He spoke again, in a hiss though, and a quiet one at that.

Akane humphed and looked away.

“What are you? Six?” Kaiyō snarled

“Younger than you!”

“We’re the same age!” The red head threw up his hands

“Fine! Whatever! Go pout in your corner!  _ I _ am going to do what  _ I _ came here to do!”

Akane didn’t deem him with an answer.

“Come on Gaara.” He muttered.

“Ok!”

Gaara plopped down on the center of the seal stroking Aki who was laying in his lap. Kaiyō stood a little off to the right. Akane was sitting at the corner of the seal. 

“Can’t believe they’re having me do the trials again.” The man muttered under his breath offhandedly.

“Ne, Kaiyō-nii, how are you gonna stop the storms?” 

“Well, I have strong affinities to a lot of chakra natures. Wind and Water being my strongest. I have Lightning as a secondary but it's harder to use ‘cause one of my main affinities is Wind. So I channel some Futon, add a little bit of Raiton, and then some Suiton. Then I just kinda focus on keeping the storms at bay.”

“But isn’t it  _ supposed _ to rain here?”

“Well, yes but some of the worst storms can damage Kumo, even though that usually isn’t a problem, it still can be. So it’s my job to come here every September for a few days when the storms are the worst.

“That sounds hard nii-san.” Gaara stared at Kaiyō, eyes wide as an ominous rumbling took place overhead.

“It was at first.” Kaiyō confirmed blowing away a stray strand of hair as it started to rain

Gaara squealed and buried his face in Aki’s tail, Aki giggled and Akane snarled as her fur got wet.

Kaiyō chuckled and reached over to ruffle Gaara’s hair while grinning,

“That’s my cue.”

Gaara lifted his head and watched.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Akane- Deep Red
> 
> Aki- Bright, Hope
> 
> Hikari - Light
> 
> Arashi no chōkyōshi- Tamer of Storms.
> 
> Suiton- Water release
> 
> Raiton- Lightning release
> 
> Futon- Wind release
> 
> Just in case anyone is wondering, Kaiyō- Forgiveness. Like it? Haha I saw this I thought the name sounded pretty cool and then I searched up the meaning and I’m like, this is the one.
> 
> Anywho, any idea what animal the summons are? I picked the names to help a little bit although I will say Kaiyo has two summoning contracts and Hikari is another type of animal. Her name probably won’t help you figure out what kind of animal she is though. I did drop small hints for Akane and Aki though. I’ll probably reveal their species in a chapter or two though.
> 
> As for Hikari, her summon species will show up considerably less but they’ll be there. They will be essential to the plot though.
> 
> If I’m being completely honest this chapter doesn’t have much plot in it but it does kinda set the stage for the next time we see the boys. I’m contemplating whether or not to switch back to Konoha next time or continue on with Gaara and Kaiyō.
> 
> Sorry about the broken japanese with the chakra releases but the affinities of Wind, Water, and Lightning are different then the releases. Plus it flows better when i’m writing. Lightning as a secondary affinity makes sense to me for Naruto cause lightning is powerful, and unpredictable. 
> 
> Also Jiraiya wasn’t completely sure if Kaiyō was an Uzumaki, but with the summon and the hair he was pretty sure. And Kurama will reappear! Not to worry! I haven’t forgotten about him just yet!
> 
> I'm not sure if there'll be an update next week so I'm not promising anything but I'll try.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Akane is so done and seals are complicated

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I was reviewing chapter 3 earlier and I realized Gaara’s POV is a little… random? I’m not sure how to explain it. I wrote him like that ‘cause that’s what I figured a small child's thought process might consist of but I’m completely sure I nailed it. I’d appreciate it if I could get some feedback on that.

Akane hadn’t planned on traveling to the past. 

She had been minding her own business in the summoning realm  _ not _ worrying about her stupid twin and even stupider summoner. 

She was not worrying.

She was not.

Then, like the stupid human and animal that they were. They burst into existence about a foot away from her.

And then she was somewhere else.

“You couldn’t just summon me regularly?” Akane snarled taking in her surroundings.

The ground held a few stubborn blades of grass- an uncommon thing nowadays. -she could make out an encampment about 100 feet away. There were privacy seals surrounding them. The Edo Tensei of Tobirama Senju sat a few feet away. 

Naruto and Akira stared at her.

Akane snarled again, her long striped tail lashing behind her similar to an angry cat. 

Akira, who was perched on Naruto’s shoulder squeaked and shrunk into himself.

The blond ignored her and grinned brightly.

(When was the last time Naruto had grinned like that?)

“We found a solution!”

“We?” 

Naruto nodded.

“Akira, Tobirama, and I!”

(When was the last time he had sounded so hopeful?)

“Pray tell what is this solution?” She drawled

Akira perked up, “Time travel!”

She blinked at them.

They blinked back.

“Here I was thinking that the Senju was the only one who had a semblance of sense left.”

Tobirama, who had been idly observing from his seat on a rock, glared at her.

“The red panda’s were an Uzumaki summon. I believe I am well within my rights to assume that time travel has been looked into.”

“Of course we have!” Akane bristled, tail puffing up, “It’s not possible!”

Tobirama shrugged.

“It is now.”

She snarled and Naruto rolled his eyes. 

“C’mon Akane! It’s simple really!” 

She turned her glare onto the blond. 

Naruto pulled out an ink pen and a piece of sealing paper.

“What everyone forgets is that Hiraishin made out of  _ time _ seals. Everyone mostly focuses on the space seals, but time is really the base. It’s like a cake! You have time seals at the bottom with space seals layering on top of it. If I were to take out the base Hiraishin components.” Naruto talked while drawing a four point seal.

“And then add a stability and grounding seal.” Naruto bit his thumb and added an Uzumaki swirl in the middle. “That’s Hiraishin in its purest form!” 

Akane stared at the paper, grudgingly impressed.

Naruto continued to talk.

“Tobirama’s seal utilizes more of the time aspects while my dads uses more of the space aspect.”

Akira looked confused. “I thought your dad used more of the time aspect?”

Naruto idly petted Akira’s tail while shaking his head, “Nah, that’s just ‘cause dad spreads his kunai around so he can teleport wherever. So he uses the space seal so he can teleport easier.” 

“Anyways,” Naruto pulled another piece of sealing paper out, “If I put a three layer space seal at the bottom, then I put the four point time seal here in the middle, and then I use a circle to interconnect it all. That’s Tobirama’s seal.” 

Tobirama peeked at the paper curiously.

“My seal and the one you are using are different.”

Naruto nodded and Akane took a closer look at the paper. “That seal’s seriously unbalanced.”

Naruto nodded again “I’m not done though!”

He picked the pen back up from where he had earlier placed it down and drew a circle around the seal. Naruto grabbed a kunai and a vial and cut his wrist, letting the blood drip into the small vial, careful not to let it drip on the seal.

Once the vial was halfway full, Naruto’s palm started to heal. 

Naruto took a sealing brush out of his haori and dipped in the vial of his blood. He skillfully gripped the brush and started making a line connecting the outer circle to the Hiraishin’s outer circle, it slipped its way through a small opening in the seal’s outer circle and connected to the inner. Naruto repeated the action on the other side of the seal before drawing a Uzumaki swirl in the middle of the four point seal and reinforcing the outermost circle with the blood.

Akane gasped at the action while Akira puffed out his chest, Tobirama directed a small smile at the blond who grinned.

While she couldn’t claim to be a sealing master like any of the other people (or animal) here, she at the very least knew that seal stacking generally wasn’t a good idea.

“A five point seal on top of a four? That’s on top of a three?” She hissed stepping back from the paper “Are you crazy?! Seal stacking?” 

Naruto huffed indignantly, Tobirama glared daggers at her and Akira looked petulant.

She continued on, “That seal will blow up in your face if you so much as mold chakra  _ near _ it!”

“No it won’t!”

Akira gulped and continued, half hiding behind Naruto, “The seal is reinforced with blood so there’s way less of a chance that it’ll blow up! And we’re adding a barrier seal so that even if it does we’ll be mostly fine!”

Akane turned her glare on Naruto who met it evenly. 

“Does anyone else know about this?”

Naruto looked away, mumbling a response. Tobirama answered for him.

“No one else is aware of our plan or seal.”

She hissed, fur fluffing up. 

“Why did you drag me here then?”

Naruto looked up again, gaze serious. 

“I wanted to extend an offer for you to come with us.”

“Whose us?”

“Akira, Aki, myself and you if you agree.”

Akane looked at her twin, disbelief clear on her face. “You too?”

Akira nodded somewhat bashfully, “Aki already agreed.”

She looked at the Senju.

“What about you?”

“I will stay as my Edo Tensei would immediately dissolve upon arrival. I will also be feeding the seal chakra.” Tobirama answered.

“And you’re okay with this?” She hissed

Tobirama tilted his head to the side slightly, “I’d rather not. As you said, the seal  _ is _ rather unstable even with the blood components. But I see no other way. Even with everyone fighting the White Zetsu’s will overwhelm us. It’s only a matter of time. By sending Naruto back he can stop Akatsuki and Zetsu before they cause any real damage.”

Akane huffed angrily, annoyed at the logic in the statement.

“Send them back to the warring clans era, why don’t you.” She growled drily.

Tobirama’s eyes shone with amusement and the corner of his mouth quirked up.

“As sure as I am that my younger self would be delighted in the prospect of time travel, I do not know how Hashirama or Madara may react.”

She huffed again before muttering “Fine.”

Akira who had been idly pawing at Naruto’s ponytail before perked up excitedly. 

“Really?”

Akane sighed resignedly, “I can’t let you two idiots go on your own. You’d give poor Aki-chan an aneurysm.”

Naruto looked offended while Akira completely ignored the insult in favor of jumping to the ground to tackle her.

“Don’t. You. Dare.” She whispered as her twin approached.

He froze, reconsidering before launching himself at the female twin anyways.

Akane snarled but didn’t chase him off. After Akira had been properly satisfied with his hug, Akane jumped onto Naruto’s shoulder, settling herself curled around his neck striped tail idly thumping his chest every few minutes.

“If you’re going to summon Aki,” She commented as she sent Akira flying onto the ground with the use of a small wind jutsu as he attempted to jump on Naruto’s shoulder “Summon her regularly.”

Akira pouted from his sprawled out position on the ground, 

“You’re no fun Akane.” Naruto lamented as he bit his thumb and started flashing through the seals to summon Aki.

“You’re right, I’m responsible.” Akane snarked

Naruto rolled his eyes and slammed his hand down on the ground, Aki appearing in a puff of smoke. 

“Aki!” Naruto cheered.

“Akane!” Aki instead responded.

Akane purred a greeting, satisfaction practically oozing off her. 

Akira cackled at Naruto- who was pouting dejectedly -from his new perch on Tobirama’s (surprisingly fluffy) hair. 

Naruto pulled on his ponytail before addressing Aki again, “Ready?”

Aki, who had been conversing with Akane turned to look at the blond. “Sure…” She frowned slightly, “Although one question?”

Naruto who had started draining his blood to use in the seal the minute Aki had responded in an affirmative looked up.

“Yeah?”

“What will happen to everyone once we leave?” The red panda’s tail swished somewhat anxiously.

Tobirama- who was already beginning the seal with Akira revising -answered in Naruto’s stead.

“Once you make the jump there is a component that should freeze this dimension. When you time travel, that timeline should branch off into a new dimension. While you all traverse in your new dimension Naruto will be looking for ways to beat Zetsu. Once he does, he has a memory seal on him that will make sure he doesn’t forget the seal to come back. He will relay the information to us and help us defeat Zetsu. Whether or not Naruto wants to stay in this dimension or his new one is up to him.”

Aki looked a little stunned. “Can you… Do all that..?” 

Tobirama pressed his lips together.

“It will take an incredible amount of chakra and our seals must be perfect but theoretically with Kurama helping it should be possible.”

Aki fell quiet and Naruto moved to start helping with the seal.

* * *

Two hours later found Naruto, Tobirama and Akira meticulously reviewing their seal and double checking their notes to make sure everything was in order.

Naruto chewed on his lip nervously.

“Is it alright?”

“It should be.”

“Everything looks perfect.”

Akane had perched herself around Naruto’s shoulder while Aki sat nearby and watched the trio fret over their seal.

“Is the failsafe in place?”

“Yeah.”

“Perfect.”

Naruto brushed a lock of hair out of his face. “We should hurry before someone comes looking for us.”

Tobirama nodded. 

Akira sighed and sat down tail swishing to and fro.

“Let’s hope this works.”

“Indeed.”

“Alright.” Naruto stood up from where he had been sitting. “Let’s do this.”

Naruto set Akira on his shoulder next to Akane’s tail and lifted Aki onto his head. Checking his haori he made sure he had everything. 

Breathing out slowly, he stepped into the innermost circle.

“Kurama says he’s ready when you are Tobirama.”

The former Hokage nodded.

“Good luck Naruto.”

“Thanks.” He grinned.

Tobirama placed himself at the head of the seal and began to pour chakra in.

The seal started to glow omnimusly, starting at the heads of the seal slowly threading its way to the center. 

Naruto sent a two fingered wave at the Senju as the Uzumaki swirl lit up, the glow flowing through the swirl.

“Don’t screw it up Uzumaki.” Was the last thing Naruto heard before everything went black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Akira- Bright, Clear
> 
> Yay! Backstory! A hint of worldbuilding! And seals!
> 
> Ok, my main question is if I explained all the seals alright.
> 
> We don’t really get to see much of seals and we’re not exactly told how they work so I kinda just came up with it on the spot. 
> 
> IMO Minato uses more of the space aspect because he spreads his kunai everywhere. Henceforth he’s teleporting from one to another. Also for anyone who wants to see the time travel seal search up the Tobirama Hiraishin seal. On the sides of the circle you can see a small opening and that’s where I got the idea for the blood seal. 
> 
> Btw Zetsu didn’t die, neither did Obito. Don’t ask me how (We’ll probably get to that later on.) Naruto doesn’t manage to talk-no-jutsu him and Sasuke dies while sealing Kaguya. Hashirama, Hiruzen and Minato’s Edo Tensei were destroyed and they were unable to retrieve any of their DNA. (AKA Author just loves Tobirama.) Obito is/was guarded by a hoard of zetsu. 
> 
> Congrats to everyone who guessed that Akane and Aki are red panda’s. Akira’s whereabouts in the past will soon be revealed! 
> 
> Lmao I woke up today, and was like: hOlY sHiT! tHe cHaPtEr. I completely forgot that I wasn’t posting last week. Sorry if the chapter is a little short figuring out how I wanted sealing to work took forever to work out and I was mentally exhausted once I was done with that xD. 
> 
> (If you happen to be wondering about the seal stacking, I can’t remember where but we’re told that, “An imbalance is made when an odd-numbered seal is placed on top of an even-numbered seal and vice-versa.”(or something like that) So I figured the imbalance seals are generally more dangerous and harder to make, not to mention unstable. Stacking seals if basically having an odd-numbered- or even -at the bottom and top, with the opposing seal in the middle. Extremely dangerous and meticulous process. While it may not seem like it, the whole seal explanation and creation of that small seal took an hour to make. For a seal master of a lesser degree it would’ve taken at least 3. As mentioned it took the trio 2 hours to make the bigger one
> 
> I appreciate all the comments and kudos! Thank you!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Suigetsu and Akira, nothing really happens, pretty much just stage setting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy new year, all! Even though I’ve been really excited to introduce Suigetsu this chapter was like pulling teeth and I’m 87% sure that it shows. This chapter is pretty short, I apologize

Suigetsu liked to think of himself as a normal kid. 

Ok, well maybe not normal. Normal-ish verging on not so normal.

_ But _ , the 7 year old mused as he slipped through an alleyway,  _ what can actually be considered normal here? _

The child shifted his shoulders to accommodate the sword on his back. 

_ I wonder where Kisame-sempai is at… _

_ Not here _ , Suigetsu concluded, shutting off that train of thought. He hadn’t seen much of the Seven Swordsmen after Mangetsu had disappeared. After the bloodline purge had started and the Hozuki clan had pretty much been wiped out. It hadn’t been very big to begin with and the purge had taken everyone by surprise. Mangetsu had barely been able to drag him out of the house and compound in time. 

By the time that it was cleared up that the Hozuki clan didn’t actually have a Kekkai Genkai most of their clanmates were already dead. Most other clans with odd jutsu’s or features akin to the Hozuki’s had also almost or even completely wiped out.

Shaking his head with a scowl, Suigetsu sped up, snow crunching beneath his feet.

“Hey kid! Wait up!”

There it was, the current bane of his existence. He felt something heavy jump onto his head and tripped.

“Naruto, or is it Kaiyō now?” The last part was muttered but the creature continued, “Told me to keep an eye on you!”

“I don’t even know who the hell this Naruto is!” He snarled, picking himself up.

“Come on, don’t be like that!” The creature protested, balancing precariously on his pale hair. “Naruto is my summoner and I’m his familiar, Akira!”

“I couldn’t give less of a shit.” Suigetsu muttered crossly, shaking his head in an attempt to throw the animal off, “What the hell even are you?”

He heard an indigent huff as the  _ thing _ stubbornly latched onto his head, “I’m a red panda!”

“Look, Naruto, Kaiyō- whatever! Should be coming soon. Tomorrow if we’re lucky. I’m just supposed to watch you!“ The newly identified red panda growled.

“Oh yeah, ‘cause that isn’t suspicious at all.” He snapped, sarcasm oozing.

“It isn’t!”

“Fine! Fine! Just shut up!”

The animal obediently quieted down and that was how Suigetsu found himself with a red panda perched atop his head as he quietly slipped into the old Hozuki clan head house.

He passed Mangetsu’s old room sullenly and without a glance, making his way to the kitchen. 

  
  


The sound of his cooking rang louder than it should’ve in the empty house. Akira watched silently from the chabudai. Suigetsu sat down with a plate of tempura after a few minutes. When Akira finally spoke it didn’t echo but the animal got the sense it might if he found the right place.

“Kaiyō should be here tomorrow.”

The Hozuki’s grip on his food tightened.

“Who the hell is he?” The child grit out.

Akira winced, “He was friends with Mangetsu.” Not actually a lie, Kaiyō (Naruto?) hadn’t immediately trekked over to Suna, instead electing to meet the brother Suigetsu had always talked so highly of and in the process see how one of his (many) best friends was doing. Kaiyō had become fast friends with the Hozuki heir once showing off his prowess with a sword.

After a few months spent in Kiri, Kaiyō had left Akira to watch over Suigetsu, the red panda becoming a part of Kaiyō’s semi-elaborate intelligence web. The Uzumaki had a web consisting mostly of summons to keep track of his future friends and any rumors about Obito. 

  
  


The child paused, posture stiffening slightly.

“Does he know where my brother is?”

The summon cocked his head to the right, “He’s working on it.”

“Alright then.” Suigetsu’s voice was quiet, almost a whisper, nothing like the Suigetsu Akira was acquainted with from the future. 

The rest of dinner was spent in silence.

  
  


Suigetsu awoke to the sound of the door slamming open.

He immediately reached for his sword that lay near his bed and crept out of his room. 

“Man, it’s quiet in here.” He could hear a voice mutter, male if his ears were worth anything.

“Are you sure this is the right place, Kaiyō-nii?”

“Yes I’m sure, Gaara.”

Kaiyō… wasn’t that the name the red panda thing had been saying was Mangetsu’s friend?

Placing the sword on his back, he glided into the kitchen where the voices had moved to while gathering chakra in his fingers.

He stared somewhat dumbly at a man with crimson hair who had a child with equally red if not slightly duller hair, clinging to said man’s leg. 

The man- most likely Kaiyō, turned to face him, a lopsided grin painting his features.

“Wow you’re tiny! Wait ‘till I tell yo- Yamato!” 

Suigetsu immediately scowled, his concentration falling along with his chakra. 

“I am not!”

The redhead shrugged easily, “Alrighty then.”

“Are you that Kaiyō guy that Akira was talking about?”

“Yup!” Kaiyō popped the p and Suigetsu examined the man and child thoroughly.

“Are you Uzumaki’s?”

The man chuckled, definitely not something an Uzumaki from the stories would do.

“How could you tell?” The Uzumaki asked dryly.

“Do you know where Mangetsu is?” 

Kaiyō’s face fell, but he gave a strained smile, “I’m working on it, kid.”

Determined to not seem sad at the statement, Suigetsu flashed a grin of his own.

“Hozuki Suigetsu, clan heir and one of the next Seven Swordsmen!” 

“Who's the clan head?”

It wasn’t Kaiyō that had spoken but the redheaded child that had come in with him, probably the same age as himself or younger.

“My brother..” He said cautiously, eyeing the boy warily. 

The boy's eyes lit up.

“My name’s Gaara!”

Gaara rushed forward and Suigetsu heard Kaiyō yelp, he himself yelped as the younger redhead tackled him. He stiffened as he realized that there were arms curled around his back and his vision was obscured by a sea of red.

He stiffened in Gaara’s hold. He could vaguely make out Kaiyō in the corner of his vision staring at them warily, with a red panda (A different one?) on top of his head.

Gaara pulls away after a few tense seconds with a small smile on his face and Suigetsu blinks.

“Sorry.” The former says, a smile still present but more sheepish, “Kaiyō-nii says I shouldn’t hug strangers.”

Suigetsu struggles with an answer, still processing the hug. 

“I- um, it’s okay.” He stammered, cheeks flushing slightly.

Taking a deep breath, Suigetsu forced the blush down. Instead looking at Kaiyō who was looking slightly amused.

“How long will it take you to find Mangetsu?”

“A week at most!” The older redhead cheerfully announced.

“You’re awfully confident Kaiyō.” A new voice drawled and he stiffened, now noticing a woman with auburn hair in the corner of the room.

She smiled and stepped forward, “I like a man with spunk!” The lady burst out laughing as Kaiyō blushed, a truly odd combination with his crimson hair.

She peered down at and he glared back.

“So this is Mangetsu’s fish stick?”

Suigetsu spluttered, composure forgotten.

“Fish stick?!” He yelled, outraged, “My name’s Suigetsu, lady!”

“Hmm…” The woman grinned, “Looks like a fish stick to me. And the name’s Terumi Mei.”

“Eheh, you shouldn’t antagonize him Mei-san.”

The newly introduced Mei chuckled and the red panda that was perched on Naruto’s head jumped onto her shoulder. 

“I like her.” The animal declared and Mei laughed this time, full booming laughter.

He simply glares harder, “Who are you?”

“You’re not a very bright one are you?” She questioned rhetorically and he scowls angrily.

“I mean what role do you play in all this?”

“What’s it to you, fish stick?”

The scowl remained firmly embedded on his face but he counted to three before speaking again. He had learned a small bit of diplomacy from Mangetsu and he knew better then to get mad.

Suigetsu forced his face into a mask of casual indifference and shrugged.

“Mangetsu’s my brother and clan head. I need to know whether or not you’re going to help me find him or not.”

Mei eyes him with what he can only assume is contemplativeness before nodding seemingly to herself and smiling.

“I like you kid.” She stated.

Suigetsu stared. 

_ What the hell is that supposed to mean? _ Is what he  _ wanted _ to scream. He instead simply kept staring.

“So I’ll tell you what I do. I’m the resistance leader!” She grinned. Suigetsu kept staring.

Mei didn’t spare him another glance before turning to Kaiyō. Suigesu idly noting that the red panda that had been bothering him for the last few months had moved to perch on Kaiyō’s shoulder, enthusiastically rubbing his tail along the redheads neck. 

“You said you haven’t sensed any of the other swordsmen nearby right?”

Kaiyō nodded, “I’m guessing they’re planning to overthrow the Mizukage.”

Suigetsu felt rooted to his spot.  _ Overthrow the Mizukage?  _ Mangetsu wouldn’t. 

_ Wouldn’t he? _ A traitorous voice in the back of his head spoke, and Suigetetsu couldn’t help but realize that he would. 

Swallowing down his realizations, he spoke up. “You won’t find them here.”

The adults turned their gazes towards him, he stood his ground. 

“I’ve been looking all over Kiri and I haven’t spotted any of them.”

Mei shook her head, exasperation clear on her face, “At best they’ll fail that assasination attempt, at worse they’ll all be killed. Yagura’s a jinchuuriki. I don’t think Kisame would be able to beat him alone. I don’t know how many of them are banding together but they aren’t all exactly buddy-buddy.

The thought of Mangetsu being killed made Suigetsu’s stomach flutter nervously and he grit his teeth.

Kaiyō stared at Mei in what Suigetsu could only assume to be uneasiness.

“What are you suggesting?”

Mei’s smile was all teeth.

“We’re going to get to Yagura first.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sidles into the room wearing a party hat.
> 
> Uhuh, hi!
> 
> Happy holidays?
> 
> I live! I’m really sorry, Thanksgiving happened and then I got sick for like a week and then personal stuff happened and then it was procrastination. (Truth be told, I spent these last two nights reading webtoons.) Good news though! I haven’t been completely idle and have lots of new stories in the works! Honestly, I’m 67% sure I have some kind of focus deficiency because I get distracted so easily it’s kinda sad.
> 
> I have this weird thing where I usually need to be listening to music while writing. I type in tandem with the music. I’m pretty sure it’s because I play the piano but I’m not too sure. I prefer to listen to music at night and in turn write at night. I’m weird like that
> 
> Frankly not a big fan of canon Jiraiya. Seeing as how this is fanfiction and breaking canon is fun, Naruto was taught how to be a spymaster. He has a rather large spy/intelligence web (I don’t think that’s the right name but I can’t for the life of me remember what it’s called rn) consisting mainly of his other summons, a few red pandas and some informants he knows from Jiraiya.
> 
> I don’t actually know when the Kiri civil war started and I have no idea when Mangetsu died so I’m kinda just working my way through. I can’t remember if we get any Suigetsu backstory and I couldn’t really find anything on the wiki. I’ve always imagined Mangetsu as a caring brother but not overprotective. And if you haven’t noticed, Mangetsu is simply missing. 
> 
> I am aware that Suigetsu is the same age as Naruto, Sasuke, etc. but I wanted to make him older. So he’s like a year older then Gaara. If anyones curious, it’s been a year since Kaiyo took Gaara and a month and a half since Jiraiya approached Kaiyo. 
> 
> I see Naruto/Kaiyo as one to have many best friends and Suigetsu is in his top 3.
> 
> I’m frankly kinda surprised I've followed the timeline pretty decently despite the fact that I've wrecked like 14 separate events both major and minor.
> 
> I know this is a gen fic- and not to worry it will stay that way -but, I realize as I reread this that Suigetsu/Gaara might actually be adorable. As such, I added a few extra words to the draft. I’m still pondering on whether or not to actually implement it so I added in the setup. Feedback would be great.
> 
> I need thoughts.
> 
> (As I write this I’m eating something called stroopwafels. They’re delicious. Go check ‘em out.)


End file.
